Police arrested Wareham High School student Isaiah Lopes, 18, of Wareham, Wednesday and charged him with making a False Bomb Threat, the result of a two-day investigation into a bomb scare at the high school Tuesday.  Lopes will be arraigned today at Wareham Fourth District Court.  If convicted, the maximum punishment for the charge is 20 years in a State Prison and up to a $50,000 fine.

According to a Wareham Police Department press release, at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday April 13, 2010, Wareham student resource officer Mary Walker was informed by Wareham High School administrators that they had found a hand-written note in a hallway that indicated there was a bomb in the auditorium. A fire drill was immediately activated and the school was evacuated as Fire, Police, and EMS arrived on the scene.

The State Police Bomb Squad was contacted and made a thorough sweep of the building. The students waited outside at an extended recess and then piled into the middle school cafeteria for lunch.

The building was declared safe and all students and teachers were returned to their classrooms by 2:20.

The maximum punishment for making a False Bomb Threat is 20 years in a State Prison and up to a $50,000 fine.

Wareham Chief Richard Stanley commented that bomb threats are taken very seriously, particularly in our school system. “Anyone involved in this type of activity will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law”, stated Stanley.

Wareham High School music director Jayson Newell was in the middle of teaching a piano class when the building was evacuated. "This is a first for me," he said. "I've been teaching 10 years, and I've never had this."

Students were also surprised by the threat. "It's kind of crazy," said high school senior Calvin Scannell. "I've never experienced anything like this before."